Electrical igniter for gas-engines.



No. 7|7,466. STOD'DAW Patented Dec. 30, 1902,.

ELEGTRICAL'IGNITEB FOR GAS ENGINES.

(Application filed Oct. 10, 1901.)

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELLIOTT J. sTODDARD, OE DETROIT, MIcI-IIGAMAssIGNOR TO CHARLES RRIIRTON,TRUSTEE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.`

ELECTRICAL IGNITER FOTRGAS-ENGINES.`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,466, dated December30, 1902. ,Application filed cacher 10,1901. serrano. 78,165. (remodel.)

To all whom. t may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLIOTT J. STODDARD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne,State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and usefullmprovement inElectrical Igniters for Gas-Engines; and I declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis speci` fication.

My invention relates to electrical igniters for gas-engines; and itconsists in theimprovements hereinafter described, and pointed out inthe claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows a sectionalelevation of a gas- Fig. 2 is an elevation of that part ofthe apparatuswhich is at the left and topof the engine in 1 Fig. l. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of the part carryingthe contact-points.

The same referenceletter indicates the same part in all the views.

A is the base, B the cylinder, C the main shaft, D D the fly-wheels, Ethe piston, F the connecting-rod, and'G the crank, of the gasengine.

H is a shaft extending through the wall of the cylinder B into thecombustion-chamber of the engine and adapted to revolve-in a bearing insaid wall.

h is a linger attached to the inner end of the shaft H and carrying acontact-point h at its end eccentric to said shaft.

H is a sprocket-Wheetupon the shaft H outside of the engine-cylinder.

H2 is a sprocket-chain engaging with the teeth of the sprocket-Wheel H'and also engaging with the teeth of a sprocket-Wheel upon the shaft C,so that the rotation of the shaft C shall produce a rotation of theshaft H.

HS is a cylinder of insulating material upon the outer end of the shaftH.

H4 is a strip of metal surrounding the cylinder H3 at one end thereof.

H5 is a strip of metal connected with the H7 is a second brushcontacting the strip H4.

The brushes HGH7 are insulated from the en-f gine and connecting partsand froml each other, but are connected together through the strips H4H5 When the brush H6 contacts the strip H5. y

I is a cylindrical rod extending through the Wall of the cylinder B andinsulated therefrom. The rod I is opposite and axiallyin line With theshaft H.

I is a iinger upon the inner end of the rod I.

I2 I3 are points upon the outer end of the finger I', adapted to becontacted by the end of the finger h.

I4 is a spring acting to draw the rod I inward.

J is a sparking coil having a complete or approximately complete ironmagnetic circuit.

J is a primary coil. p

K is a generator of electricity as a battery. One pole of the battery Kis connected with one of the brushes H6 or H7, and the other pole leadsthrough the primary coil J' to the other of said brushes.

One end of the Wire lconstituting the secn `effect is obviated by acondenser.

With the above apparatus arranged as above described there will be aninduced current set up in the secondary which will continue for a shorttime, apparently depending upon the completeness of the iron magneticcircuit, but also dependingin some measure upon the number of coils inthe secondary. The larger the number of coils the longer the currentseems to endure and the more com- IOG plete the iron magnetic circuitthe longer the current seems to continue. When the point ,h/ passes outof contact with the point I2 a spark will occur, and a second spark willoccur when the point h contacts and passes out of contact with thesecond point I3. These sparks may be of equal intensity,and in case thefirst does not ignite the charge the second will generally do so. Thedouble spark may also be obtained with a primary current only, providedsufcient time of contact is given on the irst contact.

A greater number of sparks than two may be obtained by successivecontacts if the coil is constructed for that purpose. I have obtainedsix or eight sparks. It is necessary to give the battery-current anappreciable time to magnetize the coil, but the second and subsequentcontacts may be quite short, much shorter than necessary to obtain aspark with the battery-current.

While a primary current may be used instead of a secondary, as abovedescribed, the spark occurring'by self-induction, I prefer to use asecondary circuit, because it is easier to obtain a comparatively highvoltage.

The successive contacts occur in rapid succession, Though the bestdistance apart, as also the best breadth of the second or subsequentcontact-points,seems to depend somewhat upon the construction of thecoil.

With a square coil having less than four inches in length and four (4t)inches apart, and a square cross-section 1.25 inches on the side, I haveused one hundred and thirty-five turns of No. let wire for a primaryand-four hundred and seventy-seven turns of No. 22' Wire as a secondarywith sparking points about threesixteenths ofan inch apart and about thesame distance across the face. With this apparatus I have obtained goodsparks at speeds from four hundred and twenty-tive to seventeen hundredand twenty-eight revolutions per minute.

In the apparatus shown in the drawings the rod I may be turned andadjusted to various positions, so as to fix the igniting-point of theengine, the brush II( being turned by the same mechanism, so that therelation between the breaking-point of the primary and the making andbreaking points of the secondary are not altered. This is effected bythe following-described mechanism: M is an arm upon the rod I. N is arock-shaft extending over the top of the cylinder. N is an arm upon therock-shaft N. nis a rod connecting the outer ends of the arms N and M. Pis a bell-crank lever upon the shaft H, adapted to turn upon said shaft.The brush I-IJl is secured to the upper end of the vertical arm of thebell-crank lever I). N2 is an arm upon the rock-shaft N. it' is aconnecting-rod between the outer ends of the arm N2 and the horizontalarm of the bell-crank lever P.

1. In an electric-lighting system, the combination of a sparking coil,means for completing the electric circuit through the windings thereof,to energize said coil, and means for breaking said circuit, to producethe spark at the point where the circuit is broken, two or more times inso short an interval of time that a spark shall be formed at each breakdue to the energy impartedto the coil during the time at Which saidcircuit is complete before the circuit is broken.

2. In an electric-lighting system, the combination ot' a sparking coilhaving a complete or approximately complete. magnetic circuit, means forcompleting the electric circuit through the windings of said coil toenergize the coil, and means for breaking said circuit, to produce thespark, at the point where the circuit is broken, two or more times insuccession in so short an interval of time that a spark shall be formedat each break due to the energy imparted to the coil during the time atwhich said circuit is complete before said circuit is broken.

5. In a sparking apparatus, the combination of a coil provided with aprimary and secondary Winding, means for completing the secondarycircuit, means for making the circuit through the primary Winding, andmeans for breaking the circuit through the primary winding while thesecondary circuit is complete, and means for breaking the secondarycircuit so proximately after the break in the primary circuit that thecurrent induced in the secondary shall be interrupted at the break ofthe secondaryand the igniting-spark thereby produced.

4. In a sparking apparatus, the combination of a coil provided with aprimary and a secondary winding, means for making the circuit throughthe primary winding and breaking the same While the secondary circuit iscomplete, and means for completing the secondary circuit and breakingthe secondary circuit after the primary circuit is broken, two or moretimes in so short an interval of time that the electromotive forceinduced in the secondary by the break of the primary shall produce aspark at each break of the secondary.

5. In a sparking apparatus, the combination of a coil having a completeor approximately complete magnetic circuit and provided with a primaryand a secondary winding means for making the circuit through the primarywinding and breaking the same while the secondary circuit is complete,and means for completing the secondary circuit and breaking thesecondary circuit after the primary circuit is broken, two or more timesin so short an interval of time that the electromotive force induced inthe secondary by the break of the primary shall produce a spark at eachbreak of the secondary.

6. The combination with a gas-engine of a sparking coil having a primaryand a secondary winding, means for making and break- IOO IOS

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ing the circuit through the secondary Winding Within the cylinder, andmeans for completing the primary circuit outside of the cylinder andbreaking the same outside of the cylinder while the secondary iscomplete and so proximately before the break in the secondary thatcurrent induced in the secondary shall be interrupted and form a sparkat the point of breaking the secondary.

7. The combination with a gas-engine of a coil having a primary and asecondary Winding, an adjustable means for making and breaking thecircuit through the secondary winding Within the cylinder, an adjustablemeans for making and breaking the primary circuit outside of thecylinder, the means for breaking the two circuits being so arranged thatthe break at the primary shall occur While the secondary is complete andjust before the break in the secondary, the means for breaking the twocircuits being so connected that the movement of one shall produce acorresponding movement of the other.

8. In a sparking apparatus, Jthe combination of a coil provided with aprimary and secondary Winding, means for completing the secondarycircuit, means for making the circuit through the primary Winding, andmeans for breaking the primary circuit, and means for breaking thesecondary circuit so proximately after the break in the primary circuitthat the current induced in the secondary shall be interrupted at thebreak of the secondary and the igniting-spark thereby produced.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twoWitnesses.

ELLIOTT J. STODDARD.

Witnesses:

NETTIE V. BELLES, LOTTA L. HAY'roN.

